Aloha and Welcome! This is the Kapi'olani Community College Chapter of Slow Food located in Honolulu, Hawaii. Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.
Today, we have over 100,000 members all over the world!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Slow Food @ KCC January Newsletter

TERRA MADRE RECAP

What a whirlwind! San and I were chosen as Student Delegates to attend last October’s Terra Madre Conference. A bi-annual Slow Food meeting held in Turin, Italy, Terra Madre is attended by members from around the world who are working to create good, clean and fair food systems in their communities. Terra Madre aims to address the global concerns relating to feeding the world while uniting the international Slow Food Community to network, inspire and create solutions.

Among the many great speakers that attended this year’s conference, Alice Waters, Vandana Shiva, and Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini were there to share their words of wisdom and their excitement to see the diversity and ingenuity of attendees from around the globe.

The event was intense and inspiring. Sharing dialogue and breaking bread with so many people nurturing a common goal fostered in me a great sense of empowerment and connection. It is evident now that the efforts, no matter how small, made by every individual aspiring towards a good, clean and fair food system, are actions that can resound positively on a global scale! Keep up the good work Slow Foodies!!

The next Terra Madre, slated for 2012, is in the process of being planned. As an active Slow Food member you are encouraged to apply and share in the experience. Visit Slow Food USA to stay updated on when and where it will take place and how you can get involved.

Now that San and I have both returned from Europe we are planning a Terra Madre Dinner. A celebration of some of the delicious food we were lucky enough to eat in Italy combined with a slideshow and discussion about our amazing trip. I will update soon with a date for our dinner.

*Slow Food Oahu will be hosting their annual member meeting and Potluck on Sunday January 30. As part of the Slow Food community, we (Slow Food KCC members) have been invited. It is a potluck so you will need to provide a dish. Also, please bring your own plate-ware and utensils to eat from. So far San and I will be going. If you would like to come with us please RSVP to me, Gida, (kcc@slowfoodusa.org) before the 27th (Thursday) so we can coordinate our potluck dishes and carpooling to the event. *Slow Food KCC will have our first meeting of the semester on Monday, January 31 at Kapiolani Community College Ohelo Bldg. Room 124The meeting time is 12:00 to 1:30. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Slow Food KCC has been asked to represent KCC in this year’s US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon. An international competition of student teams who will build fully functional, solar powered homes, Team Hawaii includes UH Manoa, HCC and KCC students. The UH Manoa Schools of Architecture, Engineering, and the Shidler College of Business, succeeded in designing and presenting their entry and were chosen as one of 20 teams from around the world that will build and display their solar powered home, to be constructed by students from HCC, in the fall of this year. As culinary students at KCC with a unique perspective on sustainability and green energy, Slow Food KCC now has the rare and wonderful opportunity to be part of this historic collaborative effort. Our purpose will be to prove the home’s functionality by cooking and entertaining within the structures of the competition. Our work starts now however, as we will be providing our input on kitchen design and helping to plan the house’s aquaponics system so we can prepare food that is as environmentally clean and sustainable as the home itself. We are in the fledging stages of this collaboration and looking for current Slow Food KCC members who would like to get involved. We will discuss this more at our upcoming meeting (above.) Meanwhile you can look here for more information about the house.

There are a few opportunities this week to find out more:

Friday, Saturday, Sunday January 28,29,30 @ the Honolulu Builder’s Expo at the Blaisdell. Team Hawaii will have a display booth and members of the team will be on hand to answer questions.

To find out more about participating contact me by email kcc@slowfoodusa.org

And last but not least....-------------------------------------------------------------------------------SAYONARA ANNA HIRANOWe say a sweet Aloha to the wonderful Ms. Anna Hirano. Anna, a dedicated Slow Food KCC member has graduated and left Hawaii for Napa Valley where she will work for Morimoto Napa and go out and explore the world of food. Although we will miss her fantastic laugh and great energy, we are excited for her new life and opportunities and wish her the very best!!!